Redknapp's comment underlines his ignorance, while Fowler's was the use of an expression that many people use without any agenda. The difference might be that Redknapp is a media darling while Fowler less so. What Fowler and Hodgson's apologies show though is just how delicate people can be.

It feels disrespectful to criticise an institution, but when you consider Alan Shearer's mumblings are publically funded, it's worthwhile questioning the established order. Why is Match of the Day allowed to consistently underperform?

We've swapped urbane, well-briefed and articulate interlocutors like Clare Balding, John Inverdale and Michael Johnson for slack-jawed rubes who struggle to recall the number of players fielded by a team and say things like "for me, it's a game of two halves and at the end of the day the lad give 'undred and ten percent in and araand the box."